A father who has been unable to work due to his son’s health condition says he feels forgotten about by the Government.

Terry Gravestock-Magee, 50, lives in Abbots Langley with his wife Pauline, 51 and his 16-year-old son, Cameron.

Terry says he feels let down by the Conservative Government due to the lack of financial support he has received throughout the pandemic.

Cameron was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia after developing symptoms in October 2018, a disease in which the body fails to produce blood cells in sufficient numbers.

Terry decided to start his own business selling cars from his home in March last year in order to have flexibility so he could take Cameron to appointments.

He said around September last year Cameron’s blood count got worse and he had to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Since then, Cameron has been on immune suppressants, which are used to stop the body from rejecting a transplant.

Life was looking positive for the family until March when the country was hit with lockdown restrictions and Terry said he had to stop working on his business completely.

He added: "I couldn’t have people to the house to buy a car and not many people will buy a car without looking at it first and I just can’t do that because of Cameron's condition."

Terry applied for Universal Credit near the start of March and said he didn’t hear back about his application for six weeks. When it was approved on April 17, he asked if he could backdate it and said it was initially agreed but said after he appealed it was declined.

Terry said since April that the family have been getting £354 a month.

The family were also getting £84 a month from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) due to Cameron’s condition. But said when he turned 16 on March 8, he was no longer eligible for the payment as he was classed as an adult.

But £120 of the £354 is extra money due to Cameron’s DLA payments.

Cameron’s payment of £84 stopped at the end of March and he applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) but Terry said he was told he didn’t qualify because he was told his condition is not severe enough.

He said he is now appealing the PIP decision.

Terry said he fears that as the DLA payments have stopped, the £120 extra onto his Universal Credit will also be stopped and so the family will only be getting £200 a month.

He said although he has made Universal Credit aware of the situation that Cameron didn’t qualifying for PIP payment, the family are still getting £120 payments and believes if the PIP appeal is denied then he would have to pay back what he was overcharged.

Despite Pauline working part time from home, Terry said the family are still struggling financially.

He also said he wasn’t eligible for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme which was introduced by the Government earlier this year.

He said the scheme only covers sole traders and not limited companies which his business was at the time.

He said he has now closed his Limited Company but it is now too late to be included due to the time scale.

He added: "Reports are saying how bad it is for pubs and restaurants but people like us who still need to self-isolate, despite the Government saying shielding is over, we’re forgotten about.

"Cameron didn’t ask for this illness. I can’t go back to work or get another job.

"When you go through this type of thing you find the strength. You can’t give up, it’s really hard but you’ve got to keep going."

Terry was also unable to apply for the furlough scheme as he wasn’t classified as a ‘Pay As You Earn’ (PAYE).

Conservative MP for Watford Dean Russell who says he’s been correspondence with Terry, says he will continue to urge the Government to closely look at what additional measures can be introduced to support those who are at higher risk.

Mr Russell added: "The Government has also launched bounce back loans to support small and medium sized businesses

"Over £12 billion has been spent on the Self Employed Income Support Scheme and an estimated £60 billion has been spent on the furlough scheme.

"The Government has taken unprecedented measures to protect people’s income."